Abstract

Introduction: The UK has a significant body of equality legislation to underpin social inclusion of disabled people through employment. It has a mixed model of employment that includes factories, individualized employment support and supported employment. It does not have dedicated funding for supported employment however and these services rely on a jigsaw of funding. There has been a shift to bring people with health problems on welfare benefit into employment on health and cost grounds. Results: 45.6% of disabled people are employed compared to 76.2% for non-disabled people. Relative measures of employment advantage suggest that the situation for disabled people is getting worse. There has been a shift in the last 10 years from allocation to a programme to a more individualised service response and from factory to community employment. People with learning disabilities, autism and mental health problems remain relative poorly served. Conclusions: If inclusion is to be achieved there is a need for adequate investment in the intensity and type of employment support appropriate to the needs of the person. Consideration should be given to policies that improve the availability of jobs, flexibility and inclusiveness among employers as well as measure that focus on the disabled person.